Apparatus for changing spindles in a double twist spindle frame



Jan. 2, 1968 G. FRANZEN 3,350,915

APPARATUS FOR CHANGING SPINDLES IN A DOUBLE TWIST SPINDLE FRAME FiledFeb. '12; 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Mfg en (Or: W

Jan. 2, 1968 FRANZEN 3,360,915

APPARATUS FOR CHANGING SPINDLHS IN A DOUESLE TWIST SPTNDLE FRAME FiledFeb. 12. 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 flaw Q2225" Jan. 2, 1968 e. FRANZEN3,350,915

APPARATUS FOR CHANGING SPINDLES IN A DOUBLE TWIST SPINDLE FRAME FiledFeb. 12, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inventor:

Jan. 2, 1968 FRANZEN 3,360,915 A APPARATUS FOR CHANGING SPINDLES IN ADOUBLE TWIST SPINDLE FRAME Filed Feb. 12, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 5\ I 717112' 65 5' O 1 66 T 109 0 O 26 a I 25 [:j

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Jan. 2, 1968 G. FRANZEN 3,360,915 APPARATUS FOR CHANGING SPINDLES IN ADOUBLE TWI S'I' SPI NDLE FRAME Filed Feb. 12, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 6United, States. Patent Office 3,360,915 Patented Jan. 2, 1968 28 Claims.oi. s7 ss.49

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A double twist frame wherein the reservesupply is movable about a pivot to the active supply position.

As known, the operation of double twist frames calls for the presence ofat least one and possibly several operatives who must be at hand forchanging the packages and for attending to yarn breakages. If therequisite number of operatives is not available this usually causesconsiderable machine idl time and hence an unsatisfactory output of themachine.

An unpublished proposal already aims at reducing the manual working timeon a running double twist frame for the purpose of economising in thetime a spindle is idle before an operative is able to restart theaffected spindle. The proposal consists in regarding the windingoffpackage and the associated winding-on package as being comprised in asingle unit and in replacing both, irrespectively as to whether thetrouble is due to a yarn breakage or to the winding-ofi package beingexhausted.

For carrying out this replacement the earlier arrangement provides anassembly which is traversible in the machine and which can be called tothe particular unit where a yarn breakage has occurred. Although thissubstantially reduces machine idle time it also involves the drawbackthat the traversible assembly can work at only one twisting unit at atime and that considerable time is still lost in the process of bringingup the assembly and in returning it to its stand-by position.

According to the invention the problem is solved by replacing the entirespindle upon which the package is exhausted or which has been affectedby a yarn breakage by a completely prepared stand-by spindle alreadyprovided with a fresh winding olf package, whilst the double twist frameis in operation. At the same time as the spindle is changed thewinding-on package and its holder may also be replaced by another. Thereference in this context to replacement of the entire spindle isintended to mean that the spindle itself together with its bearings andthe whorl as well as the protecting cup and the balloon limiter are thusreplaced by another such spindle.

With reference to the winding-on package, the invention proposes tochange this together with its holder. In the extreme case the inventiontherefore proposes to change every part of a twisting unit that movesand that is driven, whereas the driving members themselves are andremain in their fixed positions in the machine frame without beingchanged.

The change is effected after the thread on a standby spindle has beenthreaded and its end possibly tied to the loose end of the winding-onpackage associated with the standby spindle or applied to the emptystarter. The attendant operatives have plenty of time for doing thiswork because a spindle previously replaced for instance because it wasempty, is transferred into a stand-by position and is not returned intooperating position until the second spindle which is meanwhile inoperation is affected by a yarn breakage or its package is exhausted.

For performing this novel method of operation the double twist framemust be equipped at each twisting station with a stand-by unit. As suchit is already known to provide double twist frames with stand-byfacilities. However, essentially these are merely places where freshpackages can be kept ready. According to the invention the get-readypositions are so contrived that they are suitable for the reception of astand-by replacement spindle. Furthermore, the arrangement is such thatthe spindle which is in operative position and the stand-by spindle areboth mounted on a common support such as a changeover beam which isrotatable about an axis in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinalaxis of the frame. The axis of rotation of the change-over beam may bemoulded on a movable carriage or slide. Alternatively the change-overbeam may be mounted on a carrier that can be tilted along an arcuatepath. Moreover, the spindle which is in operative position and thestand-by spindle may be mounted on a change-over beam that works on ashaft adapted to be raised and lowered, the raising motion beingvertically upwards and possibly accompanied by a slight tilting motion.

Such arrangements permit a fully automatic changeover to be effected atevery twisting station. The only work left to the operative is to getready the windingoif packages and the starters or winding-on packages inthe get-ready positions in good time, and to tie together the yarn endsif needed. Ample time should be available for this purpose so that,besides the many other advantages of the arrangement, the furtheradvantage is gained that a single operative can attend to a largernumber of spindles than is possible on other machines.

Furthermore, for double twist spindles with downward draw-01f of theyarn a conveyor belt may be provided near the floor, on to which thefull winding-on packages can be dolfed, because in such an arrangementthe winding-on position is preferably located at a lower level than thespindles.

The wound packages will usually be cheeses and cones, as required foruse in creels, looms, knitting machines and the like. According to anunpublished proposal crosswound solid packages, i.e., solid cops, canlikewise be used in conjunction with double twist spindles. In a doubletwist frame according to the invention the windingon package maylikewise be a cross Wound solid package of such a kind.

The drawings are vertical sections of a twisting station illustratingseveral embodiments of the invention.

In FIG. 1 the upper end of a machine frame 1 in conventional mannercarries a lead roller 2, a friction roller 3 and a traversing threadguide 4. 5 is the tubular core of the winding-on package.

Each twisting station, where the working double twist spindle 6 islocated, also comprises getready facilities for the reception of astand-by spindle 7. The spindle 6 which is in working position and thestand-by spindle 7 are both mounted on a common support, e.g., achange-over beam 8. The charge-over beam 8 can turn about on axis andthe axis of rotation is movable in a plane perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the machine. More particularly it can be pivotablyswung along the curved guideway 10. To this end the change-over beam 8is tiltable about the centre of curvature 11 of the are formed byguideway 10.

The change-over beam 8 carries two spindles, the spindle at 6 beingshown in section. This spindle comprises a whorl 12 and is mounted inconventional manner at 13 with the interposition of a member 14. Shaft15 supports the turntable or spinner disc 16. The neck 17 of the tablecarries a double bearing 18 for the carrier 19 of the winding-offpackage. The winding-off pack age itself is shown at 20.

21 is the balloon limiter. It comprises a member 22 which is rigidlyconnected to or integrally formed with the change-over beam 8. Parts ofthe balloon limiter which can be opened for convenient access to thespindle that is being got ready are attached to this member by hinges 23(one of the hinges 23 can be seen on the balloon limiter surrounding thestand-by spindle 7, the hinge on the other limiter being hidden fromview by the edge 24 of the package). The balloon limiters are fittedwith permanent magnets 25 which co-operate with permanent magnets 26attached to the package carrier 19. Permanent magnets 28 are likewiseprovided in the region of the abutting edges of the hinged parts 29. Thelatter permanent magnets cooperate with permanent magnets 27 which arelikewise attached to the package carrier. The permanent magnets 28 alsooperate to keep the hinged parts of the balloon limiter 21 closed inoperation.

The path taken by the thread is indicated by the discontinuous linemarked 30. The thread is drawn off package 20 over-end and enters thecentral tube 31 from which it issues at the bottom at 32, leavingthrough the thread outlet opening 33. The thread slides over table 16and forms a balloon 34. After having passed through the wire guide 35 itruns over a lead roller 2, the winding-on package being built up on tube5 in conventional manner with the aid of the traversing thread guide 4.

The spindle is driven by a belt 36 which rotates the whorl 12. 37 is oneof the usual tensioning rollers for the belt.

The running yarn /34 holds the wire guide in the position indicated infull lines. When the thread breaks or the entire yarn on package 20 hasbeen unwound, the wire guide drops into position 35 shown in dottedlines. This causes an electric circuit to close and a solenoid 40 to beenergised through contacts 38 and 39. The plunger of the solenoid liftsa catch 41, permitting pin 43 which is loaded by a spring 42 to pressthe pivotably mounted carrier arm 44 to the right in the drawing as faras pin 43 can advance. Consequently the carrier arm 44 and shaft 9 willtilt to the right far enough for the whorl 12 to lose contact with belt36.

The movable locking pin 45 on the carrier arm 44 therefore strikes anabutment 46. At the same time a lamp 47 lights up and warns theattendant that the yarn has broken or that the winding-off package 20 isexhausted. The attendant depresses a pedal 48, releasing the locking pin45 through rod linkage 49, and thus permits the carrier arm 44 to betiltably pulled forward by hand along the arched guide 10 by the handleat 50. When a lever 51 strikes a cam 52 a pin 54 which is loaded by aspring 53 is withdrawn from locking position and releases thechange-over beam 8. The attendant can therefore turn the change-overbeam about axis 9. Twist spindle 6 is thus brought forward into thegetready position, whereas spindle 7 that has been previously completelyprepared moves into working position. A fresh winding-off package hasalready been mounted and the yarn threaded through the wire guide 35".The end of the thread is clamped at 55 in a convenient position.

When the change-over beam 8 has been turned and spindle 7 has thus beenmoved into the position previously occupied by spindle 6, the carrierarm 44 is simultaneously pushed back again on guide 10 by its handle 50.The locking pin 53 returns into locking position because lever 51 ridesoff cam 52 and finally the arm clips into engagement behind abutment 46.The attendant need now merely tie the end of the broken thread to thebeginning of the fresh thread or apply the beginning of the fresh threadto the fresh starter tube 5. The carrier 44 is then pushed homecompletely until notch 41 in catch 41 re-engages pin 45.

The described process has brought spindle 7 into working position andthis spindle now works whilst spindle 6 with the broken thread or theempty package 20 is in the stand-by position where it can be got ready.To permit all operations to be performed quickly without loss of timethe outlet opening 33 from which the thread issues to form a balloonshould always face forwards. In order to ensure that this is the case,the whorl 12 contains a permanent magnet 56 which in the illustratedembodiment co-operates with two permanent magnets 57 located in carrier44. In view of the polarity indicated by letters S and N the whorl 12and hence the spindle will stop in the required position with opening 33facing forwards. The operative can therefore get this spindle ready asdescribed and place the end of the threaded yarn into the clip at 55.

The fragmentary drawing FIG. 2 shows the bottom portion of the assemblyaccording to FIG. 1, but modified in that a lever 53 is pivotablyattached to the carrier 44 at 58.

Together with a lever 61 which is hinged to guide arm 10 at 60, lever 59forms a toggle lever system with a toggle hinge at 62. By pulling ahandle bar 63 the entire carrier member 44 together with shaft 9 andspindles 6 and 7 can be moved into the position shown in dotted lines topermit the change-over beam 8 to be turned. Otherwise this arrangementfunctions in exactly the same way as described by reference to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates the same ararngement as in FIG. 1 excepting that thewinding-on tube 5 for winding a cheese is here replaced by a crosswinding motion for building a solid cop. The twisted thread from thewire guide 35 runs to a feeder 200 and thence via a thread guide 201 tothe funnel 202 which in a manner known to the art has a slit at thefront and in which the cross wound solid cop 293 builds up in virtue ofthe action of the prismatic member 294. Bearing 205 rides up guideway2116 as the package builds up. The system is driven at 297 by a belt.Bearing 209 which can be moved by depressing a pedal 293 permits thesolid cross wound package to be released for dofiing.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 4 the general arrangement of theframe 1 is substantially the same as in FIG. 1. However, a tubularlongitudinal beam 64 is provided, and the bottom of the frame 1 has theform of a box 65 extending along the entire length of the frame.

In this embodiment a change-over beam 8 carrying spindles 6 and 7 islikewise provided. The shaft 9 about which the change-over beam 8 can beturned extends beyond the point where the wire guides 35 and 35 arelocated and carries brackets 66 for the winding-on package 5.

The upper end of the extension 67 also carries two feeler levers 68.These feeler levers 68 stop the machine when the winding-on package ontube 5 has been built up to a given diameter.

The shaft 9 of the change-over beam 8 is mounted on a carriage 6-9. Thiscarriage 69 has a cylindrical extension 70 supported on ball bearings 71in a sleeve 72. The hollow cylindrical portion 76 of carriage 69contains two opposed pistons 73 and 74. The hollow piston rod 75 ofpiston 73 is anchored in the end 76 of an outer protective cylindricalsleeve 77. The hollow interior of piston rod 75 communicates through apipe 78 with a magnetic valve 79. Moreover, a pipe 80 inside the hollowpiston rod 75 likewise communicates through a second pipe 81 withmagnetic valve 79. The magnetic valve is adapted to establishcommunication through a pipe 82 with a main pressure pipe 83 extendingalong the length of the machine. The other piston contained inside thehollow cylindrical extension 711 is loaded by two springs 84 and 85 andin addition it is provided with a rack 86 engaged by a pinion 87 whichis axially slidable on shaft 9 in splines. The pinion is also fittedwith a twin-tooth one-way clutch 88.

If the thread 30/34 breaks the wire guide 35 drops, closes a contact andthereby completes an electrical circuit for operating magnetic valve 79through contacts 38/39. Before being operated the magnetic valve hasbeen in a position in which pressure medium is admitted into pipe 78.The hollow cylindrical extension 70 is thus retained in its rearwardposition, keeping the whorl 12 in firm contact with belt 36. It may beadvisable to provide an adjusting screw at 89 for controlling thepressure between belt 36 and whorl 12. Operation of the magnetic valvenow admits pressure into pipe 81, whereas pipe 78 is exhausted. Thepressure in chamber 90 is thus relieved through outlet 91. The pressurewhich simultaneously builds up in pipe 81 is transmitted through thepipe 80 inside the hollow piston rod 75 and causes chamber 93 to bepressurised. Consequently the hollow cylindrical extension 70 andcarriage 69 are shifted into position 69 shown in discontinuous lines.This is possible because the springs 84 and 85 prevent relative movementof piston 74 until piston 73 makes contact with the end wall 94. Whenthis is the case piston 74 can likewise shift to the right. Thedisplacement of the latter piston pushes pin 95 against lever 96 whichin turn releases pin 53 from the changeover beam 8. The rack 86 at thesame time imparts rotation to shaft 9 and turns the change-over beam 8carrying the stand-by spindle 7 into the position previously occupied byspindle 6.

At the same time the tube 5' and the package it carries as well as leverarm 66 participate in this rotation.

Carriage 69 can then return into position for operating the spindle.This is effected by a valve piston in the magnetic valve which reversescontrol by reference to time or to pressure. Locking pin 53 has returnedinto engagement with a ramp 97 and thus locks the changeover beam 8.

The pressure in chamber .93 is relieved, and piston 74 is thereforereturned by springs 84 and '85 to the left. Rack 86 moves together withthe piston, but the twintooth one-way clutch 88 permits an idle returnof the rack. Pressure then rises again in chamber 90 and producesrelative motion of piston 73 in the cylindrical sleeve 70 to draw backthe carriage 69 to the left until screw 89 strikes its limit stop. Allthe parts of the system are thus back in their former positions.

During this motion the tube 5 or the package that has built up on thistube rides up an apron 98, the supporting arm being adapted to swing onis hinge at 99; The package or tube 5 bears down on friction roller 3from above. In order to ensure that the acute angled deflection of thethread from the wire guide 35 to the lead roller 2 proceeds withouttrouble, 2. yarn deflector 100 made of Corundum or the like is provided.Alternatively a small deflecting roller may be provided as indicated at101.

The spindle 6 which had been in operative position is now at 7 in theget-ready position. The attendant must tie the thread or mount a freshpackage and then apply the tied thread to the winding-on package 5'.When this work has been done the attendant must also press a readybutton. This button closes a circuit which permits the magnetic valve toinitiate the required reciprocatory shift when the wire guide drops.Otherwise a single stroke would ensue, the whorl would merely bewithdrawn from belt 36 and nothing further would happen. The provisionof means for initiating the double stroke is convenient and necessary,particularly when the machine is to run at night when no personnel isavailable. The necessary manipulations at the get-ready station would insuch a case have to be done when the morning shift begins. In the eventof the thread breaking twice at one twisting station the spindle wouldbe inactivated for the rest of the night.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 the arrangement is such that thecarriage 69 and its cylindrical extension 70 can move vertically, guidedby rollers 71 on a hollow cylinder 102. The hollow shaft 9 isconcentrically mounted on the cylindrical extension 70 and thecylindrical guide 102. The shaft carries the supporting head for thewire guides 35 and 35' as well as the carrier arms 66 for the winding-ontubes 5 and 5.

Above the wire guide 35 is a deflecting roller 103. The axle pin of thisroller also mounts a defiectable arm 104 which carries another roller105' over which the thread runs on to the lead roller 2. When the threadbreaks arm 104 drops into the dotted position 104 and closes a circuitwhich energizes the magnetic valve 79 through contact 38 and a contactblade 39.

Pressure is thus admitted through pipe 106 into chamber 107 and piston108 together with its piston rod moves upwards. The end of the pistonrod carries a cam member 109 which is prevented by ball guides fromrotating. The cam member 109 co-operates with a cam 111 built into thehead 112 of the hollow rotatable shaft 9. Consequently piston 108 movesupwards together with carriage 69, the cylindrical extension 70 and thehollow shaft 9 to which the change-over beam 8 is attached. During thisupward motion locking pin 53 is withdrawn from its seat against theresistance of its spring by a Bowden wire 113 which is provided for thispurpose in the illustrated em bodiment. The movement of the Bowden wire113 is limited by an abutment 114. The rising cam faces 109 and 111slidably engage and impress rotation upon the hollow shaft 9 about itsvertical axis. The changeover beam 8 is thus turned and the preparedspindle 7 moved into the position previously occupied by spindle 6. Thisturning movement for exchanging the spindles takes place at the levelindicated in the drawing by chain lines at 8.

The preparation of the spindle and the tying together of the thread endsis then performed in the same way as already described by reference toFIG. 4.

Since the magnetic valve 79 initiates a complete two strokereciprocation of piston 108 when a thread breaks, the entire assemblydescends again into its normal position as soon as the change-over beam8 has turned and exchanged the two spindles. In order to ensure that thewhorl 12 rides on to the belt 36 during the return without trouble, itis advisable to give the whorl a conical taper at its bottom edge at115.

As already described by reference to FIG. 4 it may also be desirable inthis embodiment to provide a so-called ready button at the get-readystation, the button being operated by the attendant when she hascompleted the necessary manipulations for preparing the stand-by spin-The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 likewise comprises a change-overbeam 8 which is raised-as is the case in the embodiment according toFIG. 5--when the operative spindle is to be replaced by the stand-byspindle. However, it differs from the previous and the other embodlmentsin that a double twist spindle is provided in which the withdrawal ofthe twisted thread is downwards. The operative spindle 116 is shown insection. The other spindle 117 which is in stand-by position is shownmerely 1n outline. The winding-oil package 118 is mounted on a packagecarrier 119 which carries a protective cup 120. The latter has a cap 121with an outlet at 122. The package carrier 119 is mounted on the turntable 124 in bearings 123. The plate 125 below the turntable 124 has anopening 126 which extends at least to the centre of hollow shaft 127.The bottom end of the hollow shaft carries the whorl 128 and runs inbearing 129 in the change-over beam 8.

In this type of spindle the thread 130 is Withdrawn from the package 118and taken through the thread brake 131 into the top of cap 121 at 122.From here the ballooning thread 132 runs downwards to the turntable 124.Bear ing against the table the thread then enters the hollow shaft 127through opening 126 whence it is taken over deflector 133 to the leadroller 134. The thread then runs through the oscillating thread guide135 on to the Winding-on tube 136. The core tube or rather the packagethat builds up on the tube is driven by friction roller 137.

The bracket 138 for the hinged carrier arm 139 of the winding-on tube isdirectly attached to the change-over beam 8. The deflecting roller 133is similarly attached to the beam. On the other hand, the lead roller134 and the friction roller 137 are mounted on the machine frame 1.

A bracket 140 on the machine frame 1 supports a longitudinal bar 141which carries the tensioning rollers for the belt 143, of which one isvisible at 142. The belt 143 is urged against the whorl 128 from theinside by tensioning roller 142.

The change-over beam 8 is fast on a pin 144. It forms part of the rotarypiston 145. This rotary piston is located at the upper end of a hollowcylinder 14-6, which is provided with grooves 147 for bearing rollers148. The rollers 148 guide the hollow cylinder inside sleeve 149 whichalso contains grooves so that cylinder 146 cannot rotate in relation tothe sleeve 14-9. The sleeve 149 is fitted into socket 150 to which thepiston rod 151 of piston 152 is likewise attached.

The stop motion 153 actuates a contact 154 when the thread breaks,causing the magnetic valve 155 to be energised. The pressure medium froma main pipe 8-3 is thus admitted via pipe 82 through the magnetic valveand flexible pipe 156 into the hollow interior of piston rod 151.Consequently pressure builds up in chamber 157 forcing cylinder 146 andthe head 158 which is attached thereto upwards. During this upwardmovement the sloping face 159 rides over roller 160 and causes the head158 as well as beam 8 to tilt sufiiciently for the whorl 128 to losecontact with the belt 143. During the further upward motion a collar 161on the extended locking pin 162 ascends to abutment 163 and theconsequent relative movement releases pin 162 from its seat in thechangeover beam 8. The load acting on the rotary piston 145 is nowcapable of rotating the change-over beam 8 to move spindle 116 out ofoperative position and the standby spindle 117 into operative positionin its place.

Since the magnetic valve 155 has initiated a double piston stroke thehollow cylinder 146 and the parts attached thereto now begin to descend,ramp 159 riding on to roller 160 and returning the whorl 128 intooperative contact with the belt 143. During the descending motion thecore sleeve 136 or the partly built package already formed thereon ridesdown apron 164 and comes to rest on the friction roller 137 on which itbears obliquely from one side.

The attendant must now reload the spindle at the getready station,thread and tie the yarn and apply it to the winding-on tube. In order tofacilitate threading of the yarn a needle 166 is provided which isguided in a slideway and which can be pushed up the central tube 127 asfar as the transverse channel in plate 125 where the beard 167 on theneedle grips the yarn and carries it down when the needle is lowered.The needle 166 may be mechanically, pneumatically, hydraulically orelectrically operated.

In these spindles in which the twisted yarn is taken downwards,permanent magnets are provided in conventional manner for arresting thepackage carrier in the desired position. Moreover, the whorl alsocarries a magnet which ensures that the spindle will always come to restwith the opening 126 in plate 125 facing forwards.

The advantage of this arrangement is that it constitutes a particularlysimple assembly of low structural height. More particularly, thewinding-on tube can be dotfed from the position shown at 163 by openingthe carrier and dropping the tube or the package on to a conveyor belt169 underneath. This simple device also saves the manual work of doffingthe fully wound packages.

What I claim is:

1. A multiple double twist spindle frame for winding thread off each ofa plurality of working spindles comprising drive means for the workingspindles and wherein with each working spindle a get-ready means isprovided for the reception of a stand-by spindle with a freshwinding-oif package, and comprising means operable upon the exhaustionof a winding-off package or breakage of thread to disengage the workingspindle concerned from the drive means and to reverse the positions ofthe said working and stand-by spindles and to engage the stand-byspindle with the drive means.

2. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 1, comprising achange-over beam which supports a spindle in working position and alsosupports the stand-by spindle, said change-over beam being mounted on ashaft so as to be rotatable.

3. A multiple double twist spindle frame according to claim 1,comprising a winding-on core or package associated with each saidspindle and means for replacing the working spindle and the workingwinding-on core or package simultaneously by a prepared stand-by spindleand a fresh winding-on core or package.

4. A multiple double twist spindle frame according to claim 1,comprising manually operated means for reversing the positions of thesaid working and stand-by spindles.

5. A multiple double twist spindle frame according to claim 1, furtherincluding sensing means for sensing exhaustion of a winding-off packageand breakage of thread, said sensing means operatively coupled to saidmeans for disengaging the working spindle from the drive means and saidmeans for reversing the positions of the said working and stand-byspindles and engaging the standby spindle for drive for initiatingoperation of said disengaging, reversing and engaging meansautomatically in response to exhaustion of a winding-off package orbreakage of thread.

6. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 1, wherein saidget-ready means comprises supports each carrying a working spindle and astand-by spindle, each said support being rotatable about an axis andmovable from operative position.

7. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 6, in which the saidsupport is movable so that its said axis of rotation moves in a planenormal to the longitudinal axis of the machine frame.

8. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 6, each said supportbeing arranged on a shaft and comprising a displaceable carrier on whichsaid shaft is mounted.

9. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 8, in which saidcarrier is pivotally mounted for swinging away from and back tooperative position.

10. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 8, in which saidcarrier is a slide or carriage which is movable away from and back tooperative position.

11. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 10 comprisinglocking means in the form of a spring loaded locking pin automaticallyoperable by the movement of the carriage or slide for the change-oversupport of the carrier.

12. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 10, furtherincluding means for elevating said slide or carriage.

13. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 12 wherein the slideor carriage is mounted on an arched guideway, said guideway beinghorizontal at said operative position and tilting progressivelydownwardly away from said operative position whereby said slide orcarriage is lowered and tilted when moved along the guideway away fromsaid operative position, and elevated and righted when moved along theguideway toward said operative position.

14. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 8' furthercomprising a wire thread guide on said carrier for each spindle, eachthread guide extending generally radially outwardly from said shaft.

15. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 14, in which thesaid carrier of the wire thread guides also carries a warning lamp whichis energisable in response to exhaustion of a package or breakage ofthread.

16. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 14, in which thecarrier is extended upwards beyond the wire thread guides and carriersof the winding-on tubes are supported by said extended part of thecarrier.

17. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 16, in which thesaid carrier is extended beyond the point of aflixation thereto of theholders for the winding-on tubes or packages and comprisingadjustable-diameter feelers carried by said so extended portion andassociated with electrical contacts.

18. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 3, comprisingelectrically or pneumatically operable locking means for thesaidcarrier.

19. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 8, further includinga whorl mounted on each spindle; the said drive means comprising beltdrive means cooperating with the whorls of the spindles, and comprisingan electromagnetically lockable spring-loaded pin which moves thecarrier away from the driving belt sufiiciently to withdraw the whorl ofthe working spindle from the belt.

20. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 8, in which saiddrive means comprise a driving belt for the whorls of the spindles, andcomprising fluid-operated lifting gear operative first to lift thecarrier out of contact with the belt and into position for turning thesupport for the said spindles for the positional interchange of thespindles and then to lower the same into working positions.

21. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 20, comprising meansfor displacing the carrier comprising a fixed horizontal cylindercontaining two opposed-acting pistons of which one is provided with arack associated with a pinion and a twin-tooth one-Way clutch forrotating the rotary change-over unit.

22. A double twist spindle frame, according to claim 8, comprising ahandle or a pedal for unlocking the said carrier and a handle fortransferring the said support to change-over position.

23. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 8, in which the saidcarrier is provided in the region vof the stand-by spindle with at leastone permanent magnet which co-operates with one or more permanentmagnets in the spindle whorl for arresting the spindle in apredetermined get-ready position.

24. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 1, in which saiddrive means comprise a driving belt for driving the whorls of thespindles, and comprising belttensioning rollers mounted on alongitudinal mernber provided in the centre of the frame.

25. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 1, comprising afriction roller co-ope-rating with a windingon package, a traversingthread guide co-operating therewith and a roller for leading the threadto said guide, said rollers and said guide being mounted in fixedpositions on the machine frame.

26. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 25, having doubletwist spindles for overhead draw-off of the yarn and comprising asloping apron carried by the machine frame and means movably supportingthe winding-on core or package so that it rides up the said apron intoworking position in contact with the said friction roller.

27. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 25, and havingdouble twist spindles for downward drawofl of the yarn and comprising asloping apron in the machine frame down which the winding-on tube orpackage which is attached to a head of the support for the spindles tobe interchanged rides into contact with the friction roller.

28. A double twist spindle frame according to claim 24, in which thesupport for the spindles to be interchanged is upwardly movable andhaving means for lowering the winding-on core or package on to the saidfriction roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

D. WATKINS, Assistant Examiner.

